the present incomplete condition of the Suez Canal, and some journals
are arguing therefrom that it is a failure. As yet, ships of heavy draft
are unable to get through it. Some disasters to shipping have occurred
in the Red Sea after the canal has been passed, and it is not at
all improbable that more troubles will arise before everything goes
smoothly.
The Red Sea is comparatively unknown to navigators. It contains hidden
rocks which must be charted and buoyed before its navigation can be
rendered safe. Surely this ought not to take the world by surprise.
As to the canal itself, we are only surprised that it has reached its
present state of perfection and we advise those who now make haste to
prophesy ignominious defeat for one of the greatest enterprises of the
century, to suspend judgment for a time. New York journalists might
certainly call to mind with profit, the annual troubles attending the
opening of the canals in this State. Frosts heave and rats undermine,
and banks annually give way, yet these things are not regarded as
surprising. But upon the opening of a work, to which all the minor
canals in the world are like the rods of the magicians to Aaron's rod
which swallowed them up, it is expected that everything shall move
without difficulty, and that no oversight will have been committed.
Truly this would be to attribute a power of prevision to M. Lesseps
beyond what is human. The world can afford to wait a little till this
huge machine gets oiled. Great enterprises move slow at the outset. We
have yet unshaken faith in the ultimate success of the Suez Canal.
* * * * *
TUBULAR BOILERS AND BOILER EXPLOSIONS.
In our description of the novel steam boiler, published on page 209,
last volume, we made a quotation from several eminent writers and
experimenters on the subjects of heat and steam, to the effect that
the tubular system in steam boilers was wrong in theory and unsafe in
practice, and although this system has hitherto been extensively used on
account of some advantages which it secures, it has long been a serious
question with thinking men whether these advantages were not obtained at
too dear a rate.
While not prepared to admit all the force of the objections made to the
tubular system, there are arguments against it that it will not do to
treat lightly and which seem to us more and more forcible the more we
candidly reflect upon the subject. One of the most forcible of these
which occurs to us is, that in the tubular system the disruptive force
of unequal expansion is far more likely to become a cause of danger than
in the plain cylinder boiler. In such boilers the tension of expanded
tubes is transmitted to the shell, which are greatly strained without
doubt, often nearly to the verge of rupture. When this occurs it is
evident an unusual strain, caused by sudden generation of steam, would
act in concert with the expansion of the tubes, and we have no doubt
these causes combined have given rise to many an explosion when the
steam, acting singly, could never have produced rupture.
But while we give due weight to this argument, there is one often
referred to by our correspondents, and which we often see stated in
newspapers, as ridiculous as the one we have noticed is forcible. It
is that when, in such boilers, water, by carelessness or otherwise, is
allowed to fall below any of the tubes, the steam which surrounds them
is decomposed, and becomes an explosive mixture of hydrogen and oxygen
gases, ready to explode with terrible violence whenever the temperature
of the tubes shall have reached the proper point.
This argument is ridiculous, because it rests on no experimental basis.
It is a flimsy theory, entirely unsupported by any facts. Never has it
been proved that hot iron, at any temperature likely to be obtained in
steam boiler tubes, decomposes steam except by itself appropriating
the oxygen of the steam, and leaving the hydrogen, by itself no more
explosive than any other heated gas.
The sole object of the tubular boiler is to increase the heating
surface, without corresponding increase in other particulars. That it is
not the only means whereby this object can be secured has already been
demonstrated and we believe will hereafter be shown in divers ways. We
have no more doubt that the next fifty years will witness the total
abandonment of the tubular system, than we have that the world will last
that length of time.
* * * * *
AMERICAN RAILWAY MANAGEMENT.
There seems a growing opinion among railway managers that the sole
end and purpose of a railroad is to line the 6 pockets of, if not its
stockholders, at least its directors. In fact we not long since saw a
statement in a widely-circulated journal, that, as the sole purpose of
railroads is that the companies who own them should make money, it
is absurd to suppose they would be content to manage them in any way
whereby such a result would not be most likely to accrue.
The journal referred to, in making this statement a basis for an
argument in favor of railway consolidation, entirely ignored the rights
of the public from which railway corporations have obtained their
charters. In these charters certain privileges were granted, not out of
pure generosity, but with the understanding that certain benefits
were to accrue to the public. Its safety and convenience were to be
considered as well as the profits to the owners.
Every charter granted to these roads involves a contract on their part
to do the public a certain service, and in a large majority of cases
these contracts are to-day unfulfilled. Day after day sees the power to
control more and more centered in a few unscrupulous wily managers, and
the comfort and safety of passengers more and more disregarded; yet
still the people submit.
But they do not submit without complaint. Now and then a newspaper
correspondent grumbles, and the news of smashes that may be almost daily
seen in the papers gives a text for an occasional editorial blast, as
little heeded by the delinquent companies, as a zephyr is felt by an
oak.
Thus the New York _Times_, on the occasion of a recent railway disaster,
gives vent to a little mild denunciation. It says:
"The general rule in this country (to which there are indeed exceptions)
in regard to the purchase of railway materials is simply this: buy the
cheapest. First cost is the controlling and often the only question
entertained. The nature of the materials and processes to be used in the
manufacture of rails, for instance, are not mentioned. The buyers for
some of our roads, especially new roads, never make the slightest
allusion to quality, and never specify tests and inspections, but
simply go about among the mills, comparing and beating down prices, and
accepting the very lowest. More than one of our rail makers are to-day
rolling, under protest, rails upon which they decline to put their
trade-mark--rails made from the very cheapest materials, in the very
meanest manner--for all that is required is that they shall stick
together till they are laid. And if American makers will not roll them,
Welsh makers will. The late report of the State Engineer of New York
says: 'American railway managers, instead of offering anything like a
reasonable price for good iron rails, have made themselves notorious by
establishing as standard, a brand of rails known all over the world as
"American rails," which are confessedly bought and sold as the weakest,
most impure, least worked, least durable, and cheapest rails that can be
produced.' The State Engineer refers, in confirmation of this opinion,
to the statement of Mr. A.S. Hewitt, United States Commissioner to the
Paris Exposition, a statement not yet controverted; and to a statement
of Mr. Sandberg, an English engineer of note, in the London _Times_.
A leading American railway president and reformer has publicly said:
'There is a fear on my part that railway companies will themselves tempt
steel makers to send a poor article by buying the cheapest--first cost
only considered--_as they did with the ironmasters_.'"
This certainly is a blessed state of affairs. We have given privileges
to giant corporations, which they have improved so profitably, that they
now can defeat, in our Legislatures, any attempt to revoke them, and can
laugh at any demand for better management.
Disguise it how we may, the railroads have got the upper hand of the
people, and they seem likely to keep it, unless, indeed, their rapacity
shall react against themselves.
At the moment of this writing accounts reach us of the officers of a
prominent railway line intrenching themselves against the officers of
the law, and employing force to resist the service of precepts calling
them to account for alleged frauds upon the stockholders.
That the Legislature of this State has the power to put a stop to these
disgraceful proceedings, is certain; what it will do remains to be
demonstrated.
* * * * *
THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE PRIZES AWARDED TO STEAM ENGINES.
If there is anybody satisfied with the action of the managers of the
American Institute, in the matter of awarding prizes to the competing
engines exhibited at the recent fair, we have yet to meet that
complacent individual. Neither the exhibitors nor the general public
could be expected to accept with equanimity such a report as the
managers have made, because it is inadequate to give any real idea of
the relative merits of the engines tested. The exhibitors, at a large
expense, took their engines to the hall of exhibition, placed them in
position, and with them drove the machinery exhibited there; and now,
when in return they had a right to expect a decided, manly course on the
part of the managers, the oyster is swallowed and the contestants are
each politely handed a shell.
The conditions on which the general test was to be made contained, among
other specifications, these: that "the water supplied to and evaporated
in the boiler will be measured by means of a meter, and the coal burned
may also be weighed."
Only one of the conditions quoted was properly complied with. The coal
was weighed, but though a meter was used to measure the water, tests
made, we are informed, _after the trial of the engines_, showed that
the meter was so inaccurate as to completely invalidate any calculation
based upon its record of the water supplied. Nevertheless this has,
we are credibly informed, been made the basis of calculation; and the
amount of coal consumed during each trial has been rejected either as a
basis of calculation or a check on the inaccuracy of the meter.
Other prescribed regulations were observed with great care. The engines
were indicated in a masterly manner by a gentleman of great experience,
as the cards--tracings of which we have seen--bear ample testimony. The
temperature of the feedwater was 47 degrees; it should, in our opinion,
have been heated, but we waive this point. The state of the barometer
and temperatures of engine room and fire-room were observed; but
we respectfully submit, that with coal consumption left out of the
calculation, and the water consumption an unascertained quantity, the
question of relative economy, the vital point to be settled, is as
uncertain today as it was before the test.
In the _Tribune_ of December 20, appeared a statement of the test to
ascertain the accuracy of the meter used, which showed that in an
aggregate of twelve tests it varied nearly three per cent in its record
from the actual quantity delivered, while at times it was so erratic
that it varied in one instance over _ten per cent_.
Truly, considered in connection with this fundamental error,
temperatures of engine and boiler rooms, and states of barometer, will
not count for much with engineers.
An oversight like this would, however, never have been laid at the door
of the managers, however it might invalidate the test; but when the
utterly absurd decision announced in the papers, after a tedious delay
had led the public to expect an exhaustive statement, gave rise to
general disappointment and excited the utmost dissatisfaction, it became
manifest that a manly, straightforward course on their part was not to
be hoped for, and that any protest against the consummation of the farce
would be vain.
It is not for us to decide on the merits of the engines submitted to
test. It was for the judges to do this. We maintain that nothing that
the public will accept as a decision has been reached, and on behalf of
the public we protest that the managers have not only placed themselves
in a very unenviable position by their action in the premises, but have
done a lasting injury to the American Institute, the results of which
will be disastrously felt in future exhibitions.
The studied ambiguity of the report which awards two first prizes to
the competing engines, is no less apparent than the desire to shun
responsibility.
* * * * *
A PROTEST AGAINST THE CANADIAN PATENT LAW.
In July, 1869, the New Dominion Patent Law went into operation, but it
has not yet been approved by the Queen, and if rejected the Canadian
Parliament will perhaps try its hand again. Although Canadians may
freely go to all parts of the world and take out patents for their
inventions, they have always manifested a mean spirit and adopted a
narrow policy, in reference to inventors of other nations. Their present
patent laws are so framed as practically to debar all persons except
Canadians from taking patents; and the result is that American and
English inventions are pirated and patented in the Dominion, without so
much as a "thank you, sir," to the _bona fide_ originators.
A protest has been presented to her Majesty's Secretary of State for the
Colonies, asking that the new law may be rejected, on the ground that it
deprives the subjects of the Crown of their equal rights throughout
the empire. There is force in this objection, and Lord Granville has
promised that it shall be duly considered before the Queen is advised to
sign the law.
The probable result will be a revision of the Dominion patent code so as
to let in Englishmen but exclude the Yankees, from whom the Canadians
derive whatever of improvement, progress, and energy they possess.
* * * * *
THE BRIGHTER SIDE.
Ingratitude seldom enters into the composition of a true inventor, and
nothing in our business career has afforded us more pleasure than the
frequent letters addressed to us by those who have, during more than
twenty years, employed the Scientific American Patent Agency. We cannot
find room for all the pleasant missives that come to us from our
extensive list of clients, but we may give a few as samples of the many.
Mr. Daniel J. Gale, of Sheboygan, Wis., has recently secured through our
Agency Letters Patent for a "Perpetual and Lunar Calendar Clock." In the
fullness of his satisfaction he thus writes: "The fact is, I shall never
be able to thank you sufficiently for what you have done for me. I
sent you a copy of the paper printed here, which favorably notices my
improvement and your great Agency. The fees charged me for my patent
have been low enough. Already, by one of my own townsmen, I have been
offered $4,000 for my interest in the patent. But I must not take up too
much of your I time. Please allow me to add that I regularly receive
your valuable paper, the SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, and that you may number me
as one of its stanch friends."
Mr. Edwin Norton, of Brooklyn, N.Y., in a recent note, says: "Allow me
to express my thanks for the promptness and efficiency with which the
business of obtaining a patent for my 'Cinder and Dust Arrester' has
been conducted through your Agency--and not only in this case but in
several previous ones. This is the _fourth_ patent obtained by me
through four Agency within nine months. It gives me pleasure to add my
testimony to that of many others, with respect to the very satisfactory
manner in which your Patent Agency is conducted."
Mr. E. J. Marstens says, in reference to his improved "Field Press"--"I
find everything correct. You certainly accomplished more than I expected
after the first examination by the Primary Examiner. I hope soon to be
able to give you another case."
Mr. S. P. Williams, an old client, writes as follows: "I received the
patent on my 'Trace Lock for Whiffletrees,' and I am truly pleased with
the prompt manner in which you have done the business. It is only a few
weeks since I made the application, and I expected that it would be as
many months before the patent could be granted."
* * * * *
PROFESSOR FISKE'S LECTURES AT HARVARD.
It certainly argues well for the intellectual character of the readers
of the New York _World_ that during the prevalent taste for sensational
journalism, it has found the publication of a series of philosophical
lectures acceptable. We thank our neighbor for thus making these
lectures available to the general public. Their ability is
unquestionable; and the calmness and candor which Professor Fiske brings
to the treatment of the subject is such as to add greatly to the force
of his logic.
The "positive philosophy" has been shown by Professor Fiske to be much
misunderstood, misapprehension not being confined solely to the ranks of
its opponents.
His exposition of some of the misconceptions on which Professor Huxley
has based some criticisms upon the writings of Comte, strikes us as
especially forcible; and the whole course of lectures proves Professor
Fiske to be one of the clearest and most able of American thinkers.
These lectures are followed as they appear, with great interest, and
their publication in the World we regard as a real and permanent benefit
to the public.
* * * * *
SCIENTIFIC LECTURES BEFORE THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE.
The announcement of these lectures came to hand too late for our last
issue, and the first has already been delivered. The course is as
follows: Friday, Dec. 17, The Battle Fields of Science, by Andrew D.
White, President of the Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y. Friday, Dec.
24, How Animals Move, by Professor E. S. Morse, of the Peabody Academy
of Science, Salem, Mass. Friday, Dec. 31, The Correlation of Vital and
Physical Forces, by Professor G. F. Barker, of Yale College, New Haven.
Friday, Jan. 7, The Air and Respiration, by Professor J. C. Draper, of
the College of the City of New York. Friday, Jan. 14, The Connection
of Natural Science and Mental Philosophy, by Professor J. Bascom, of
Williams College, Williamstown, Mass. Friday, Jan. 21, The Constitution
of the Sun, by Dr. B. A. Gould, of Cambridge, Mass. Friday, Jan. 28,
The Colorado Plateau, its Canons and Ruined Cities, by Professor J. S.
Newberry, of Columbia College, New York.
The course is a good one, and ought to be, and doubtless will be, well
attended. Abstracts of the lectures will appear as delivered, in the
SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN.
* * * * *
THE BATTLE FIELDS OF SCIENCE.
LECTURE BY PROFESSOR WHITE, BEFORE THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE.
This lecture did not disappoint the expectations of those familiar with
the subject of the discourse, which, considering the difficulty of
restating familiar historical facts in such a manner as to clothe them
in a garb of originality, is high praise. Many, however, found great
difficulty in hearing the speaker at the back part of the hall, and some
left the room on that account. This was unfortunate, as the lecture will
scarcely be exceeded in interest by any subsequent one of the course.
The speaker said that "In all modern history, interference with science
in the supposed interest of religion--no matter how conscientious such
interference may have been--has resulted in the direst evils both to
religion and science, and _invariably_. And on the other hand all
untrammeled scientific investigation, no matter how dangerous to
religion some of its stages may have seemed, temporarily, to be, has
invariably resulted in the highest good of religion and science. I say
_invariably_--I mean exactly that. It is a rule to which history shows
not one exception. It would seem, logically, that this statement could
not be gainsaid. God's truth must agree, whether discovered by looking
within upon the soul or without upon the world. A truth written upon the
human heart to-day in its full play of emotions or passions, cannot be
at any real variance even with a truth written upon a fossil whose poor
life was gone millions of years ago. And this being so, it would also
seem a truth irrefragable; that the search for each of these kind of
truths must be followed out in its own lines, by its own methods, to its
own results, without any interference from investigators along other
lines by other methods. And it would also seem logically that we might
work on in absolute confidence that whatever, at any moment, might seem
to be the relative positions of the two different bands of workers, they
must at last come together, for truth is one. But logic is not history.
History is full of interferences which have cost the earth dear.
Strangest of all, some of the most direful of them have been made by
the best of men, actuated by the purest motives, seeking the noblest
results. These interferences and the struggle against them make up the
warfare of science. One statement more to clear the ground. You will not
understand me at all to say that religion has done nothing for science.
It has done much for it. The work of Christianity has been mighty
indeed. Through these 2,000 years it has undermined servitude, mitigated
tyranny, given hope to the hopeless, comfort to the afflicted, light to
the blind, bread to the starving, life to the dying, and all this
work continues. And its work for science, too, has been great. It has
fostered science often and developed it. It has given great minds to it,
and but for the fears of the timid its record in this respect would have
been as great as in the other. Unfortunately, religious men started
centuries ago with the idea that purely scientific investigation is
unsafe--that theology must intervene. So began this great modern war."
Professor White next reviewed the battle between science and theology
on the subjects of the "earth's shape, surface, and relations," "the
position of the earth among the heavenly bodies," in which Copernicus
and Galileo struggled so bravely and successfully for truth.
The lecturer said: